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After the attack in New Orleans that left 14 dead, the authorities are assuming an Islamist background. The alleged perpetrator was a US citizen and an Afghanistan veteran. What else is known about him?
In the middle of New Year's Eve, a pickup truck drives into a crowd of people in New Orleans' nightlife and tourist district, the French Quarter. 14 people are killed and numerous others are injured. The suspected perpetrator is also dead – he was shot by the police. What is known about him and his motive?
Who was the man?
Authorities said the suspected perpetrator was 42-year-old Shamsud-Din J. – a native-born US citizen from Texas. He apparently most recently worked there as a real estate agent.
He previously served in the US Army for years. In a now-deleted YouTube video in which J. promoted his real estate company in 2020, he said he had always lived in Texas, “except for the ten years I served in the U.S. Army.”
The Federal Police FBI confirmed that J. was a US soldier. According to the Pentagon, he worked in human resources management and as an IT specialist for the US Army from 2007 to 2015 and was then a reservist until 2020. An Army spokesman said J. served in Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010 and had the rank of sergeant at the end of his service.
The AFP news agency writes, citing Georgia State University, that J. studied there from 2015 to 2017 and received a bachelor's degree in computer systems.
Was J. known to the police?
The New York Times published criminal records showing that J. was charged twice with minor crimes: in 2002 for theft and in 2005 for driving without a valid license. Accordingly, he was fined $100 each.
What do the investigators know about his private life?
As the New York Times further reports, J. was married twice and was a father of two. His second marriage ended in divorce in 2022. According to court documents, J. was having financial problems during this time. He said he was $27,000 behind on his house payments, had $16,000 in credit card debt and wanted to get his divorce resolved quickly.
At the time, according to the documents, J. was earning about $10,000 a month at the consulting firm Deloitte.
Is there any evidence of a motive for the crime?
Investigators have now confirmed that an IS flag was found in the crime vehicle alongside weapons and homemade explosive devices. The FBI assumes that the 42-year-old joined the so-called Islamic State (IS) last summer.
The perpetrator posted five videos while driving from Houston to New Orleans. In one of them he said that he initially wanted to kill his family and friends. However, he hopes that the attack in New Orleans will bring greater media attention to the “battle between believers and non-believers.”
J. previously fell because of Radicalization on?
The New York Times quoted the man's alleged brother as saying he was “really a sweetheart, a nice guy, a friend, really smart, caring.” J. converted to Islam at a young age. However, the crime he committed in New Orleans does not represent Islam: “It is more a form of radicalization, not a religion.”
A childhood friend told the newspaper that J. was a person who “didn't cause any problems.” He was “never threatening, but you could see that he had become really intense about his faith,” the New York Times quoted.
Is there a connection to the Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas?
Investigators initially checked whether the attack in New Orleans could be related to the explosion of a Tesla cybertruck in front of a Trump hotel in Las Vegas. The incidents occurred just hours after each other.
The driver of the Tesla was also a soldier, although he was still active and not a veteran, as several US officials told the AP news agency. The FBI confirmed that he was part of the elite Green Berets unit. The Green Berets are the oldest special unit in the US Army and are used, among other things, to combat terrorism. The CBS broadcaster reported, citing investigators, that the 37-year-old was stationed in Germany and was on vacation in Colorado at the time of his death. According to the FBI, the driver had a gunshot wound when the car exploded. He died and seven other people were injured.
A connection seemed obvious because both had served for some time at the Fort Bragg base. Today it is called Fort Liberty. So far, there is no overlap in the two men's service hours at Fort Bragg, the FBI said.
